


Informing the Crew

by DefinitelyNotMe



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Destroy Ending, F/M, Post-War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-02
Updated: 2015-05-02
Packaged: 2018-03-26 17:33:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3858967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DefinitelyNotMe/pseuds/DefinitelyNotMe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>ATTENTION: All Normandy personnel are to meet in the conference room of the Normandy ASAP. Debriefing will occur in approx. 1 hour.</p><p>Steven Hackett, ADM<br/>Alliance Navy</p>
            </blockquote>





	Informing the Crew

**Author's Note:**

> First part of this fic found here: http://archiveofourown.org/works/3858322

ATTENTION: All Normandy personnel are to meet in the conference room of the Normandy ASAP. Debriefing will occur in approx. 1 hour.

Steven Hackett, ADM  
Alliance Navy

It was odd for Hackett to send out a message personally. Usually these things went through a few channels before reaching the lower levels, but this message had gone straight to the omni tools of all the surviving Normandy crew members. The Normandy itself had taken some damage from the Crucible blast but it had since been repaired and transported back to Earth, along with its crew. All of whom were now grounded from leaving planet side. Not that it made much of a difference with the mass relays currently under reconstruction.

Kaidan stood in front of the mirror. It was evident he had not slept well. Those last moments where Shepard insisted he evacuate were burned into his brain. Every time he closed his eyes all he could picture was her stepping back off the Normandy and heading towards the beam. No one had seen her since. He knew the Alliance had scheduled some of the remaining fleets to sweep the Citadel for survivors but…it had been 9 days. And now Hackett wanted them all for a debriefing. “They’re going to pronounce her killed in action…” He mumbled to himself. The anger of it all swelled up inside him until he punched the mirror, shattering it, and cutting his hand up at the same time. 

_She wouldn’t want to see you like this._ Again, he took a deep breath and slowly rinsed the blood off his hand before grabbing an extra set of medi-gel and patching it up. He looked down at his omni tool for the time. Only 10 minutes until this brief was supposed to take place. Could he bear it? Could he get through the whole thing without wanting to hit Hackett for not doing more? Or blaming the allies for taking too long to commit to the cause? But no. As real as this depression was, he was still a solider, and he was determined to keep his military bearing to hear the official release statement of Shepards death. 

He took the elevator of the Normandy up a level, walked through the CIC, and headed into the conference room. Liara, Zaeed, Jack, Traynor, Vega, Cortez, Samara, Donnelly, Daniels, Adams, and Tali were all present. He could feel eyes on him as he walked in. Many of the crew had tried to talk to him about Shepards death and how he shouldn’t ‘blame himself’ but he had shut most of them out. They were likely surprised to see him show up to this at all. He made eye contact with Vega in the back of the room, giving him a head nod for a greeting, and taking his place near him to stand for this briefing. Vega had been the easiest to be around this last week. He was always offering Kaidan drinks, asking him if he was all right, but never pressing the issue or trying to get him to talk about it. As far as people to stand next to went, he was the safest best.

There were quiet conversations around them but Kaidan wasn’t listening. After a few seconds he spoke up. “Where is everyone else?” Vega seemed surprised to hear him talk but didn’t delay in responding. “Jacob, Kasumi, and Javik are part of the mass relay repair team so they’re off planet. Wrex and Grunt are leading the krogan through the cities, making sure any Reaper tech lying around is completely destroyed. Uh, I haven’t heard from Miranda in a while…” He trailed off. Kaidan followed his gaze.

Dr. Chakwas came into the room, pushing Joker in a wheel chair. Joker looked about as good as Kaidan. Maybe worse. Not only had EDI’s termination hit him hard, but Kaidan had heard he blamed himself for Shepards death just as much as Kaidan blamed himself. The Normandy crash had probably broken a few of his bones but, it was his crushed spirit that kept him wheelchair bound. He wasn’t making any strides towards recovery and everyone knew it. But much like Kaidan’s depression, no one talked about it. Instead they all diverted their eyes elsewhere and let Dr. Chakwas roll him into place off to the side, and stand with him.

After an awkward moment, Vega finished. “And last I heard Garrus was with the remaining Turian fleets. Not sure what he’s working on up there.”

Cortez looked past Vega and over to Kaidan. “Any idea what this is about?” The lump settled in his throat. _They’re going to announce Shepard is dead._ He couldn’t say it. He couldn’t say anything. But luckily he didn’t have to. A few alliance soldiers marched on board. One of them yelling, “Room, stand by.” And they all silenced and stood at attention. Well, the alliance guys in the room did anyways. Zaeed stayed leaned back against the wall with his arms crossed, Joker remained unmoving from his chair, Tali and Liara stood quietly but comfortably, and Jack made a scoffing noise, likely also rolling her eyes. _Even though she is technically alliance now…_ But Kaidan decided he didn’t care enough to correct her behavior.

“Carry on everyone.” Hackett stepped into the room in a hurry. The room relaxed, everyone shifting their weight to stand comfortably. “Thank you all for coming.” Hackett looked exactly the same. Kaidan didn’t know why he was expecting his admiral to at least look tired, but no. Hackett was as intense as ever, striding into the room and taking the center so he could see everyone. His eyes scanned the room to see who had showed up but didn’t comment on any missing party members. “I’m going to make this as quick and painless as possible.”

 _Thank you._ Kaidan was already feeling the anxiety build. He wasn’t ready for this. Why was he here? He should have bailed. He already knew what was going to be said so why did he come? But at least Hackett was going to just say it and get it over with. Then it would be official and Kaidan could become a full on alcoholic and not worry about anyone’s opinions anymore or hear one more person say ‘don’t give up hope’.

Hackett began. “Approximately six days ago, at 1145 hours zulu time, a turian survey team located commander Jane Shepard on the Citadel, alive.” A ringing started in Kaidans ears. Tunnel vision kicked in, and before he could acknowledge what he had just heard he stumbled backwards. He very likely would have collapsed completely but Vega caught him with one arm and Cortez quickly grabbed the other, lowering him to a sitting position on the ground. Kaidan was conscious but he knew he probably looked like he had just seen a ghost because Liara rushed over, crouched down in front of him and started checking his vitals.

Kaidan still couldn’t hear anything. Just a ringing, a consistent high-pitched tone. He looked around the room and it all seemed to be in slow motion. Donnelly and Daniels were kissing. Dr. Chakwas was hugging Joker and they were both crying. Samara was smiling and had an arm around Tali’s twitching shoulders. Kaidan couldn’t see inside her mask but it would appear she was crying as well. Zaeed and Adams were laughing and high fiving. Traynor’s face had gone pale and she was gripping the table like she may faint if she let go. Kaidan could feel Vega shaking him by the shoulders and could see the excitement on his face. Cortez was shaking his head in disbelief but a huge smile was on his face. Kaidan made eye contact with Liara who was talking to him, if only he could hear it. 

“She’s alive Kaidan. You’re okay. Come on, you have to get up.” Liara reached out and wiped the tears off from his cheeks. _Am I crying?_ The ringing faded and slowly noise started to make sense to him. Vega was laughing the loudest. “Holy shit I can’t believe it! Back from the fucking dead. AGAIN! Our commander is fucking invincible I swear to god.” Cortez and Vega both lifted Kaidan by his arms and held him for a second until his feet remembered what the ground was. _Is this really happening?_

Hackett put his hands up to settle the room. “Yes yes. I know. And I’m sorry it took me almost a week to bring the news to you but I’m going to be honest.” The room quieted down except for the sniffing from those crying that couldn’t be helped. “When they picked her up, she was in rough shape. The survey team who found her contacted Garrus first and he contacted me. I called Miranda in to take care of her sense I figured if anyone can bring Shepard back from the dead, it’s her.” There was a bit of laughter around the room.

“Still. When I went to go confirm it was actually Shepard, there was still some question about whether she was going to pull through. Even now she has not yet regained consciousness but her vitals are good, her recovery looks promising, and I didn’t want to keep the news from you guys longer than I had to. That being said, I don’t want you all rushing her hospital room right away. I’m going to permit two of you to go up to be her support for when she wakes up.”

“I need to be there.” Kaidan was surprised he had found his voice. He wasn’t even sure that was him talking but people looked at him and nodded so he knew he had actually said those words and not just thought them. “I’ll go with him.” That voice belonged to Liara. The two exchanged glances and the room silently agreed.

“All right. I want it said that this information is classified so keep your excitement to yourselves until further notice. You two come with me. Everyone else, dismissed.” The room jolted to attention again as Hackett, Liara, Kaidan, and the handful of extra alliance guys followed suit behind. They exited the Normandy in silence, walked across the docks in silence, and boarded a shuttle in silence. It wasn’t until the doors were closed and the shuttle began to take off that Hackett looked to Liara and Kaidan and spoke.

“She’s being held in an alliance navy med ship off planet. It’s got the best doctors on board and since it’s off planet it’s keeping the press out of this. The only person alive that really knows what happened on the Citadel with the Crucible is Shepard. I know you two are excited to see her but I need to give you a quick briefing. Until I get her official report for what happened in my hands, I don’t want anyone to know she’s alive. I don’t need the press speculating what may or may not have happened and the last thing Shepard deserves is anyone questioning what she’s done and making it out to be a bad thing. She’s a goddam hero and I’ll make sure it stays that way. Understood?”

Kaidan thought that was strange. Why did he need to say that? Did anyone question Shepards motives? The Reapers were destroyed. What else could people want from her? Regardless of his questions he said “Understood” and Liara nodded.

“Good. Second, is that her vitals are stable but Miranda is reporting that her brain activity is off the charts. There is a chance that when she wakes up she may have serious memory issues. Short term long term, I don’t know. All we can do is speculate and hope that she wakes up the same Shepard we remember her being.”

Kaidan felt his stomach start to sink. The idea that Shepard lived, but she may wake up not knowing who he was… _It might have been easier if she just died._ No. He couldn’t think like that. She would remember. She had to remember! There was no way they could come this far, with so much behind them, and then forget it all. Liara must have sensed his anxiety because she reached over and squeezed his hand. The sensation brought him back to reality and he focused on Hackett. “Understood, sir.”

The admiral nodded as the shuttle docked to the medical ship. Hackett stood as they exited the ship and gave Kaidan a quick clap on the shoulder. “She did good. No matter who she wakes up as, just remember who she was.” Kaidan nodded, turned, and exited the shuttle. He was still holding Liara’s hand as they walked off the ship, into the station, and down the hallway together.

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback welcome!


End file.
